A special guest post from Brett of IAMTHELAB
Are you a bloggin’ artist or an artist who blogs? It’s not a question that gets asked enough, in my opinion. Every month on IAMTHELAB, I am privileged to find and showcase some of the most brilliant minds in the handmade community. If you read my posts and check out my pictures, you’ll discover that I often include links to the various places my featured guests can be found. One thing I’ve quickly discovered is that many in the handmade community don’t keep an active blog, if they blog at all.
This is a crying shame, ya’ll.
Blogging may seem like an extra. After all, if you are an artisan, you’ve got a business to run. I totally get that. Most of you have online shops to manage, customers to keep happy and things to create. You may think that keeping a regular blog is a waste of time. My friends, nothing could be farther from the truth. Here’s some reason why an artist should DEFINITELY be a blogger:
- Blogging daily keeps the creativity going. When you take the time to post, even just a small one, you get the mind in gear. Your unique creative perspective fires up and is unleashed. Even if you only have a few readers, they know you are active, you know you are active and your brain knows it too. Creativity breeds creativity.
- Blogging daily drives traffic to your shop. Artisans who blog know this to be a fact. Most blogs are free and allow you to post links and such in your sidebar. Why not take advantage of a free form of legitimate advertising? When you post a sale on your blog, it goes to your readers, especially if they take advantage of RSS feeds and other ways for folks to sign up to follow you. It just makes good sense. Oh, and did I mention that it’s usually free? Yeah, that.
- Blogging daily increase your network. Let me tell you, as a blogger who features artists, I am more likely to reach out to you if I know that you are truly reachable. Sure, social media takes care of that to some degree. But blogging is the original social media. It gives me and other bloggers like me another link to you. When I do my posts, I include links to all the artists’ social media, including your blogs. You can also list your blog in services like Technorati and Bloglovin. All are ways to spread your artistry, connecting with others.
- Blogging can become a business in itself. This brings me back to my 1st question. Do you know how many successful artists and crafters started out with a shop and then moved to blogging and then to TOTAL CRAFT WORLD DOMINATION? There are so many. Merriweather Council comes to mind. There’s plenty of room out there for you to taste the sweet success of a vibrant blog.
Now, I know what you are saying: “I don’t have the time!” Really? Seriously, it only takes a little planning and you’d be surprised at what you can accomplish. You don’t have to post much: a picture, a poem, a work in project, a post from someone else’s blog (with links & credit attributed, of course. We Link With Love in the LÄB!), your puppy. It all counts. Especially the puppy. We need more puppies in this world.
Sometimes, all you need is a little positive peer pressure. That’s why I started Project #icandoit365. We’ve created a little diary(We as in me and Made By Rori) that you can use to plan ahead and keep a log of what you will blog about. I will be posting tips on subjects to blog about and places to get great content for your blogs. Plus, weekly, I’ll be sharing some of your posts on my blog, expanding your reach into the wild blue yonder of the blogosphere. Project #icandoit365 is also a handy Twitter hashtag. You can share your thoughts and blogging dreams on Twitter for the rest of us to feast on and water with love. I can’t wait to see the end results. 1 year of blogging together is gonna be a blast!
Come chat with Brett @IAMTHELAB about why blogging is awesome, how to build a blog you’ll love (and follow through on), plus learn more about Project #icandoit365 at our #OMHG chat from 1-2EST Thursday July 19!
Connect with Brett:
Brett Torrey Haynes is a crazy man who love handmade. He runs a little site called IAMTHELAB. He muses at Faberuna.com and dresses the gents at shirtshoetiepant.com. He lives in Hawaii and likes to rub it in. He prefers Twitter.
